"The Boonta is far more dangerous than any amateur race I've flown!"

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla smiled

It was not a cruel emotion to share, far from it. Here was this woman that exuded power and confidence brought to her knees by nothing more than a compliment.

“A role model is not necessarily the same as someone that should be copied without thought. How you go about what you do is personal to you, and I could not imitate, even if I wanted. But what you do? That is worthy of emulation.”

“And I am sorry to hear about your unfortunate circumstances. And you’re right, killing people is not good. But you could have called all of them back there, but you didn’t. So don’t underestimate the good that you do.”

“For I don’t think it’s our place to judge ourselves as good or bad. Our deeds tell that particular story after all. But tell me – if you feel able – why don’t you want to be cured?”

[member="Priscilla Utorna"]

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Priscilla stopped to think for what seemed like an eternity... for so long, she had been told there wasn't a cure, but that was what, 15, 30 years ago? They told her by this stage she would be lucky not to be on death row, or even dead. Apparently, the bacteria originally developed to assist those living in isolation - to reduce the effects of being alone for long periods of time; though it had a nasty side effect of all but degrading a person's morals till they believed that killing someone was an acceptable form of entertainment.

For once, she lacked an answer.

"I-.." she stuttered on her words, grunting and then continuing in a slightly more confident manner. "Is it so bad to be different? In a galaxy of trillions of people - is it so bad for some of them to die often? To go missing? What about that slimeball back there, do you think I shouldn't have killed her?"

Unbeknownst to both herself and the Chiss, the only cure would be and could only be open brain surgery, at which point, would she even be the same person after such an operation?

She sighed, staring at the ground with remorse.

[member="Lilla Syrin"]

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla smiled kindly. "Of course it's not bad to be different. Different is what makes the galaxy interesting. It's what you do with your different that counts I think."

"And as for people dying, it happens every day. Some deserve to die for their actions I suspect and others clearly don't. But I don't decide which ones fall into which camp and I don't judge others that do. If you sleep at night with a light heart, then I suspect you're doing the right thing by yourself."

"So, who am I to pass judgement on who you kill or not?" Lilla held up two palms. "Certainly not me. Not by a long way. And don't beat yourself up about doing what you think is right and proper. It's people that don't follow a moral compass that need to be aware of what they're not only doing to others, but themselves."

"You just need to look after yourself, that's all. If a cure helps you live a longer life - but it's a life you don't want to live? Well then, forget the cure and just be you. Just be the best you that you can, right?"

Lilla exhaled. Where did that speech come from? The heart, she suspected. The heart!

[member="Priscilla Utorna"]